Tie Breaker

UMBC to Give Head Coach Ryan Odom Raise and Long-term Contract

In a recent interview done by ESPN, UMBC athletic director Tim Hall said that they intend to have a meeting with Head Coach Ryan Odom to discuss the possibilities of extending his contract and increasing his salary.

USA Today

This comes in after the head coach was able to wrap the season with a great game taking UMBC to the NCAA Tournament. He was able to pull off the biggest upset in this year’s tournament beating top seeder Virginia during the first round with 16-seeds. With a score of 50-43, the Golden Retrievers lost the game to Kansas State in round 32 of the season’s games.

During the interview, Hall said, “We need to do within our realm what we can. We obviously can’t do what the Power 5 schools can do, or anything near that. I think at some point Ryan wants to do it on a bigger state. I’m just hoping it’s down the road instead of now.”

Yahoo Sports

Hall also said pulling something on the table for the head coach and that they will do everything in their power to get him to lead UMBC in the coming future. Considering they are giving him generous incentives as of now, this means that they are giving him a raise and signing him for a longer contract.

Odom was hired by the athletic director without going through the usual process of assistance from a search firm. He was initially signed for a 7-year contract with a gross pay of $230,000 per season.

Baltimore Sun

ESPN also interviewed Odom with him saying, “I haven’t even thought about it right now. I’m their coach. I’m here. I’m sure they’d like me to be here and I want to still be here.”

The team will be losing some of its key players who are going to graduate this year including Jairus Lyles, KJ Maura, and Jourdan Grant. Odom says, “We lose some key seniors, but I think we’ve got a good squad coming back.”